[YSPNetwork] Fwd: fyi...more us suicide rate up....due to middle agedwomen--yahoo news

Thu Oct 23 08:34:23 PDT 2008

Michael-

     Your statement is an incredibly insensitive one to middle-aged women.  Given the numbers presented, your statement also lacks credibility until you provide further evidence to back your statement.  

     I think we all should take the time to better understand the issues Donna's article raises, and focus on what we can do further to prevent future suicides.

Kirk Wolfe, M.D.

--- On Thu, 10/23/08, Michael Conner, PsyD <conner at CrisisCounseling.com> wrote:

From: Michael Conner, PsyD <conner at CrisisCounseling.com>
Subject: Re: [YSPNetwork] Fwd: fyi...more us suicide rate up....due to middle agedwomen--yahoo news
To: "'Donna NOONAN'" <Donna.Noonan at state.or.us>, Yspnetwork at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2008, 7:38 AM

All things are no longer equal.  In light of real time stressors, such as the economy in Oregon, I believe these findings are meaningless static in present time and have no predictive validity. 

Michael Conner, PsyD
www.CrisisCounseling.com

From: yspnetwork-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us [mailto:yspnetwork-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Donna NOONAN
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 10:06 AM
To: Yspnetwork at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Subject: [YSPNetwork] Fwd: fyi...more us suicide rate up....due to middle agedwomen--yahoo news

YSPNetworkers,
I'm forwarding an article I received yesterday afternoon. Our epidemiologists looked at the data for Oregon and it appears that there is an increase in suicides among women ages 45-64 from the years 1999-2006 in Oregon, reflecting the national trend. If you want more information, please contact Xun Shen, xun.shen at state.or.us or Matt Laidler, matthew.laidler at state.or.us, epidemiologists in Injury Prevention & Epidemiology at the Public Health Division.
Donna

Middle-aged women drive rise in U.S. suicides: study
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor Maggie Fox, Health And Science Editor 2 hrs 17 mins ago 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. suicide rates appear to be on the rise, driven mostly by middle-aged white women, researchers reported on Tuesday.
They found a disturbing increase in suicides between 1999 and 2005 and said the pattern had changed in an unmistakable way -- although the reasons behind the change are not clear.
The overall suicide rate rose 0.7 percent during this time, but the rate for white men aged 40 to 64 rose 2.7 percent and for middle-aged women 3.9 percent, the team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found.
"The biggest increase that we have seen between 1999 and 2005 was the increase in poisoning suicide in women -- that went up by 57 percent," said Susan Baker, a professor in injury prevention with a special expertise in suicide.
Writing in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Baker, Guoqing Hu and colleagues said they analyzed publicly available death certificate data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The results underscore a change in the epidemiology of suicide, with middle-aged whites emerging as a new high-risk group," Baker said in a statement.
"Historically, suicide-prevention programs have focused on groups considered to be at highest risk -- teens and young adults of both genders as well as elderly white men. This research tells us we need to refocus our resources to develop prevention programs for men and women in their middle years."
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States and Baker said the changes are substantial.
"Definitely these are not just little blips," she said in a telephone interview. "We are looking at a big population change."
She hopes other researchers will study the reasons behind the shifts. "I certainly think we need research to look at the information that we have on people who have committed suicide," she said.
"Are these people living alone, with no major responsibility or others to take care of, or are they people overwhelmed with all of the jobs and responsibilities they have? We need to find out more about the conditions under which these people are living."
The middle-aged women and men used various methods to kill themselves -- poisons, prescription drugs, hanging or suffocation, and firearms, Baker said.
While firearms remain the most common method, the rate of gun suicides decreased while suicide by hanging or suffocation increased by 6.3 percent among men, and 2.3 percent among women.
In September researchers confirmed an 18 percent spike in youth suicides in the United States in 2004 persisted into 2005 after more than a decade of decreases.
And international research published in January found that the young, single, female, poorly educated and mentally ill are all at higher risk of suicide.
According to the World Health Organization, suicide rates have increased by 60 percent in the last 45 years. Depression is the leading cause of suicide.
(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Julie Steenhuysen)
_____________________________________________________________________
Donna G. Noonan, MPH, CHES
Youth Suicide Prevention Coordinator
Injury Prevention & Epidemiology Program
Oregon Public Health Division
800 NE Oregon, Ste 772
Portland, OR 97232
Phone: 971-673-1023 
Fax 971-673-0990
donna.noonan at state.or.us
http://oregon.gov/dhs/ph/ipe/ysp/index.shtml

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